Passive or active photonic components such as waveguides, coupling structures, modulators, photodetectors, for example, may be formed in a semiconductor layer, such as silicon, and may be associated to form a photonic integrated circuit. To connect these photonic components, an interconnection structure encapsulated in an insulating region is arranged on a surface of the silicon layer. The interconnection structure comprises a plurality of metallization levels connected together and to the photonic components by electrically-conductive vias.
A known advantageous photonic component is a laser comprising an amplifying medium made of a composite III-V semiconductor material optically coupled to a waveguide of a photonic integrated circuit. To assemble such a laser made of a III-V material and the elements of the integrated photonic circuit on silicon, a wafer of III-V materials comprising the laser elements may be placed on the silicon layer having the photonic components formed therein.